How Do You Talk To An Angel
by Mrs.Northman
Summary: A continuation of Assent To Love


It didn't look as if she were doing anything special, just sitting in a room, though she wasn't alone. She remembered how Gran used to read to her when she didn't feel well. She didn't always remember the story but just the sound of Gran's voice was the most comforting thing. She read the book in her hands though she didn't know what story she was reading. She hoped that it didn't matter. She hoped that the sound of her voice somehow became a beacon for her friend and Great Grandfather.

For the fiftieth time Sookie sat the book in her lap and pulled out the small vial of silver liquid. It had been Jamal's idea originally to bottle some of her tears. She and each of her three guards carried two small bottles on their person so that they were always prepared without being completely dependent on Sookie poking herself in the eye when they are in a potentially dangerous situation. When they ended up giving Noah an overdose at Calvin's Jamal suggested that they change the size. So instead of a super small bottle they all carried four small vials each which held about a quarter of an ounce of her tears.

The idea was that they could heal their fallen comrades without creating the binding tie that Sookie seemed to share with Noah. She didn't tell her guards but she made sure that Pam had a small vial of her tears too. Sookie made her promise to keep it on her at all times even if it meant taping it to her skin or pinning it in her hair somewhere. Sookie wanted Pam to be able to heal herself from any injury that may leave her life in peril. Sookie, who had always had the deepest faith in Pam to do whatever she needed to do to stay alive, felt more secure with her overall physical safety.

This is where she ran into a problem with Amelia and Niall. Sookie knew that tears could heal someone with the gravest of injuries; she'd seen it on multiple occasions. The problem is that Niall and Amelia weren't hurt...not physically. They were in a magical coma; physically they were both completely healthy...Amelia is as healthy as she could be seeing as she's still so malnourished when she first arrived. What if the fact that there's magic involved causes an adverse reaction in them?

The easy answer would be that you wouldn't know unless you tried. The logical part of her brain said that she should try it on one to see if it would work at all, but which one? Amelia was so weak from months of abuse and starvation, now on top of all that she's in this magical coma. What if the introduction of Sookie's tears had an adverse reaction with the magic that's already in place? Amelia isn't strong enough to survive that.

Dr. Ludwig said that Niall's strength of magic was what pulled them through whatever black magic had happened to them. He was strong enough to transport them here to her but not strong enough to avoid this magical coma. Niall is a completely different story. He was a magical being, a powerful magical being, all on his own. He was a Fae Prince and one of the most powerful fairies in existence. Whatever had overtaken them had almost killed him...it would have if he were a lesser fairy. Whatever happened to him is something that has put a drain on him how could she possibly add to it? With Niall it's not only the black magic she has to consider but Niall's own natural magic.

Sookie would be the first to admit that she knows nothing about fairy magic. It was just something that she knew fairies could do but didn't include herself in that group too. In all fairness no fairy she's ever known ever hinted that fairy magic would ever be a possibility in her future either. So the question became: how do you account for not one but _two_ types of magic you know nothing about? Simple; you don't. Sookie screamed but muffled the sound by pressing her mouth into her forearm. Anthony had gotten used to it, as did Jamal and Noah, and no longer rushed into the room to ask what was wrong. When she was done screaming she pushed the vial under the strap of her bra and picked the book back up and continued to read the story she couldn't tell anyone about.

X X X X X

It had been a little while since Gabriel had the chance to check in on his charge. There was a lull in activity and decided to see how his sister was doing. After checking in with Michael, Gabriel flew unhindered through time and space from Heaven to the Earth. He circled the Northman neighborhood finding a silver beacon in the forest. He flew head first into the trees to find Noah in wolf form running. He remained invisible as he followed the wolf's progress through the trees.

Noah pushed himself through the trees, enjoying the fact that nature so trembled at his feet that it seemed to jump out of the way in order not to hinder his progress. He stretched his stride as flowed seamlessly through the trees as water running downstream. He knew that running wasn't the only way to move. A drop off was coming soon and when it did Noah leapt with all the power in his legs and sailed through the forest. An involuntary shudder that he dismissed was the only thing that happened as a result of the unknown angel on his back.

Gabriel whooped loudly when Noah jumped from the drop off. He barely made it in time to land on the wolf's back before he sailed through the air, and as a result he landed too hard. The part that connected Noah to Sookie reacted to Gabriel's familiar presence in the form of a fine shudder that the wolf disregarded. Gabriel pulled his wings in and dug his hands into the thick silver fur and held on tight as Noah landed on a tree branch. Before he could fall Noah jumped forward from tree to tree carrying an Archangel that was lighter than air. Gabriel leaned forward and whispered a suggestion in the great wolf's ear.

Jumping from tree to tree was amazing but when a stray thought popped into Noah's head, "jumping from tree to tree is exhilarating but there's nothing better than a free run." With that thought Noah took a great leap from the tree he last landed on and with a great bound he was back to running so fast through the trees that a human eye wouldn't even notice him and a supe eye would see just a streak of silver there and gone before one could blink.

"Nice horsey," Gabriel said as he patted Noah's head. There was a large clearing coming up and on impulse he jumped off the silver wolf and flew ahead. When Noah made it into the clearing there was a beautiful man standing there doing absolutely nothing in the middle of the clearing. Noah came to an abrupt halt and growled.

"Oh calm down Noah. I'm not here to hurt you." The man said. "I came to check on my sister when I spotted you running. I couldn't resist a little ride before I was on my way."

Noah growled again as he wondered who this being could be. Maybe a fairy? No the fae guard weren't in this vicinity, they always gave him a wide berth, and he knew that Sookie was still in the house. Could he be talking about Sookie? No, he said he came to visit his sister and Jason is Sookie's only sibling.

"That's not true." Gabriel said, answering Noah's thoughts. "I am Gabriel, Seraphim's brother. Seraphim is Sookie, Sookie is Seraphim."

Say he is Seraphim's brother, what is he doing here?

"I got sidetracked by you as I said earlier." Gabriel said placidly.

_'What do you want from me?'_ Noah thought directly at the glowing stranger.

"I want to tell you that you not to worry so about losing yourself. Nothing can change who you are, not even Sera's tears. You are still the honorable man that you were before she dosed you and no one can change that...except you."

_'I don't belong anywhere. I am a freak.'_

"Since when do you care about being like everyone else?" Gabriel countered. Briel stepped out of Gabriel's body and Gabe changed into a snowy white wolf. He didn't go through the changing process like most wolves nor did he explode from one form to another; he was a man and then he was a great white wolf. "And who among any group is not a freak?" She asked. She raked her fingers through the white wolf's thick fur. "You do belong. You've belonged since you took the job. You belong with your pack at Sera's side. You already know this, so why do you torment yourself with weary questions?"

_'How can I not question this path? I feel so in tune with Sookie that it's like I'm losing myself. How can I be any good to anyone if I'm losing who _I_ am?'_ Something deep inside Noah told him that this was not the time to sugarcoat his worries. He's laid everything out bare before the strangers._ 'She's in every thought I have. All I think of is how I can be of use to her. What I can do for her. This is not me. This is not who I am.'_

"Who are you to say who you are?" Briel asked him. "You are on a path that you don't understand. It's okay to doubt your direction but you should never doubt yourself. Yes your thoughts are full of Sera but that will change. The connection between you two is still being forged. As it matures the intensity you feel will lesson also. Part of the reason it's so strong is that you haven't fought it. Even now, while you're here laying your fears out for me, you are still not fighting it. Run whenever you get a chance. Fill your time with more than just guarding your mistress. Return yourself to the things that you love to do. Your entire life cannot be all about guarding Sera. You are not your job. These are the things that you can do on your end, when you see Sera again ask her to dampen the link on hers. She won't be able to sever it but she can kind of mute it."

_'I don't want it gone. I couldn't stand it if she's hurt or killed because I wasn't there to help her. My individualism isn't worth her life.'_

"She will be in no danger but it would help you get a handle on things on you end. Ask her to dampen it as much as she can and gradually reopen it, this way you are not flooded with everything Seraphim all the time."

_'Thank you.'_

"You're welcome, though we have to admit that this little interview wasn't completely selfless."

_'What can I do for you?'_ Noah asked. He felt he owed them for the peace of mind they'd given him, a perfect stranger.

"This is Gabe," the woman said, "and Gabe wants to fight. Do you think you can spare with my lesser half while I go check on our sister?" The white wolf snapped at the woman when she said 'lesser' but otherwise stood still facing the silver wolf.

_'Deal.'_

"Thank you." She said and great white wings that Noah hadn't noticed spread from her back. She jumped and her wings gave a great whoosh and the woman was out of sight.

Noah was a little shell shocked at the display before the howling of the white wolf brought him back to his senses. Noah answered the white wolf's call with a bay of his own. At the same moment silver and white streaks leapt at each other and clashed with the boom of thunder.

X X X X X X X X X X

When Briel found Sookie she watched the sad scene of her sister reading absently to her fairy and witch. Every so often Sookie would put the book down and pull a small vial from her breast. Briel knew instantly what was in the vial and looked on with approval...until Sookie put the vial back. She took a step towards her sister and Sookie's head snapped up in her direction and looked right through Briel. She paused, waiting to see if Sookie would acknowledge her presence because certainly Sera would know that she was there, but Sookie just shook her head and went back to her reading.

This cycle went on over and over. Sookie would read, stop, take out the vial and play with it, put the vial back, and then read some more; every so often her head would snap up as if someone was there or someone had called her name, but each time she would shake her head in denial and go back to her reading.

"Why doesn't she just give them the tears?" Gabe's voice asked from behind her. He hadn't snuck up on her because they could always feel each other but his presence let her know that she had been standing there longer than she meant to.

"Finished so quickly with your play fighting?" Briel asked instead of answering his question.

"Of course I won...three times." He scoffed as if nothing else would have been possible.

"I suspect that Sera is trying to influence Sookie to use the tears but Sookie keeps talking herself out of using them. I think she's scared or worried about the effects."

"But there would be no effects." Gabe pointed out.

"But Sookie doesn't know that." Briel countered.

"They are devolving instead of evolving as one being," he said. He let his worry seep into his voice because if you couldn't be honest with yourself then who can you be honest with?

"Yes, it's just a matter of time now-"

"Don't say it!" Gabe interrupted. "Don't even think it."

"They won't survive like this," she said anyway, "if she continues like this one of them will jump ship and kill them both."

Gabe stepped into Briel and their bodies came together seamlessly. They both shuddered at the thought of their friend's death. Of course death in this vessel for Seraphim would just mean a return to her natural state, but she would never forgive herself for failing. This life with Eric is what she was made for.

"We must help," Gabriel spoke out loud even though they were in the same again, "we must do it quickly."

He stepped forward and knelt in front of Sookie. She shuddered and goose bumps sprang up on her skin. She rubbed her arms and looked around the semi-empty room. She got up and walked through Gabriel over to the door, placing a hand over it she detected no one but Anthony in the hallway. She turned back to her friend and great grandfather and sighed. For the millionth time she pulled the vial of tears from her breast and twirled it in her hands.

_'Why do you doubt yourself?'_ she suddenly asked herself. She didn't know but she was almost paralyzed with fear of making the situation worse.

_'Do you really think that either would fault you for trying to make them better? Do you think that either would choose this pitiful helpless state that they're in?'_ she asked herself. She didn't know why she was suddenly talking to herself but her mind seemed to be asking some really good questions...though part of her wished that it would shut the hell up.

"No they wouldn't fault me from trying to heal them." She answered herself out loud. It made her feel more crazy to answer herself in her own mind...did that make sense? "Neither would want to be this helpless. They both would take the risk."

_'So why are you doubting yourself?'_

"What if I'm wrong?"

_'What if you're right and are extending their pain?'_ That thought brought her up short. She'd been able to kill when she was forced to but she had nothing to do with torture. The thought that her Great Grandfather and best friend could be in great pain while she had the power to stop it made her stomach turn.

_'Stop feeling bad for yourself and do something already!' _her mind snapped at her, _'do ANYTHING, but just stop standing still! You can't stand still in a world that is constantly moving forward, so move already for all things holy!'_ Okay now her mind was getting bitchy but she stepped forward anyway.

She went to Amelia's bedside first since she was worse off. She uncorked the vial and parted her friends chapped lips; she poured the silver liquid into Amelia's mouth before she could talk herself out of it again. She gave it a moment but there was no change and Amelia remained unconscious to the world. Sookie huffed in disappointment before moving over to Niall. She repeated the steps with him. A moment later there was still no change.

"So much for being all powerful." She muttered to herself.

Gabriel rolled his eyes before muttering _'Oh ye of little faith'_ before disappearing. Sookie looked at the spot where Gabriel disappeared from as his last words kept running through her mind. Did she have little faith in herself? She was about to say no when she realized that it was true. She had the upmost faith in Eric, in Gabriel and Michael and everyone else but it was still hard for her to maintain faith in herself. Hell her confidence in herself just barely leveled off at sky high...perhaps it was time to work on having faith that she could do anything.

The theme song to _Kim Possible_ ran through her mind and that put a smile on her face. She retook her seat and had faith that her tears would work. She picked up her book and finally realized that she was reading _The Odyssey_. She did love the story of adventure on the open seas. Instead of picking up where she'd left off she turned back to page one so that she could actually be present in the reading but before she could speak the first word a great whoosh sounded and Sookie was pushed forward, landing hard on her knees. She barely got her hands up in time to avoid a face plant.

Sookie jumped to her feet to find two nooses seemingly made of black smoke wrapping around Amelia's and Niall's necks. She couldn't tell what the nooses were made of but that didn't matter because they were tightening themselves around their necks and pulling them off the beds.

"ANTHONY!" she yelled as she dove for Amelia. She tried to break the hold of the noose but it burned her skin. The door burst open and Anthony cursed loudly before diving for Niall's bed.

"SHIT!" He yelled as his hand was burned when he tried to pull the noose from Niall's neck. "What is that?"

"I don't know!" She wailed. "I gave them each a vial of my tears, hoping that it would heal them but this happened instead. I don't know what's going on!"

She screamed as she tried to break the noose again. The first time she removed her grip as soon as she got burned but this time she just screamed her way through it as she continued try to break it; but it was unbreakable. Her hands were raw when she finally gave in. She tried only holding onto Amelia's body but the noose just kept pulling, strangling her in the process. Sookie hadn't even thought about it but suddenly her enclosure sprang around the two women, severing the hold of the noose. It was then that she saw that it wasn't rope though she still couldn't make out what it was.

"A little help here, his lips are turning blue!" Anthony yelled when he saw that she was able to get Amelia free. He was trying to keep Niall from going through the wall and noose had tightened around his neck so tightly that if he'd been human it would have snapped his neck.

Amelia's body was bleeding from where the IV's and catheters had been yanked out when Sookie was trying to keep hold of her. Sookie held Amelia's limp body in a bridal position as she jumped over to Anthony and Niall. Without her having to concentrate on it her enclosure accepted Anthony and Niall, severing the noose from Niall's neck. Anthony rearranged Niall so that his back was pressed against Anthony's chest in case he had to move him quickly. They moved off the bed close to the door but the two black rope like things didn't go away. They circled Sookie's enclosure and every so often one would crash into it only to be thwarted.

"If I didn't know any better I would think that they were testing your shield for a weakness." Anthony said.

"I think you're right."

At that moment Niall groaned and his eyes fluttered. Anthony sat him on the ground and squatted behind him and kept Niall's back against his chest. "Niall?" they both called. His eyes fluttered again before they opened unfocused.

"Niall can you hear me? It's Sookie." He turned his head towards the sound of her voice and it took him a few moments before his eyes seemed to focus. It was another moment before he recognized who he was looking at. "Niall?"

"Sookie? I feel like I've been run over by a four horse chariot." He managed.

"Don't worry, I will protect you Niall."

"Safe." He murmured before he seemed to pass out again.

"Great, I don't think he will be helping us with our current position." Anthony pointed out.

"No but maybe if he's come around then so will Amelia. My tears must have had some adverse reaction to their magical state."

"I could be wrong, seeing as how I am no witch, but this doesn't look a magical adverse reaction." Anthony said. "This is an attack."

"Either way I don't know how to solve this."

Amelia groaned and her eyes fluttered but that was it. Her body had stopped bleeding but she wasn't moving anymore.

"I think you should give her another vial, maybe two, of your tears." Anthony said.

"What if it makes it worse?"

"I don't think that it can get any worse Queen."

She opened her mouth argue but remembered the conversation she had with herself just minutes before. Truthfully it couldn't get much worse so she pulled her last two vials out and tipped one into Amelia's mouth. This one seemed to work faster because after only moments Amelia's eyes fluttered and then opened. Her eyes were glazed just like Niall's were but after a moment or two they cleared and focused on Sookie.

"I'm so glad you are awake." Sookie said.

"Me too." Amelia said though her throat was scratchy. "Why are you silver?"

Sookie laughed abruptly because she realized that Amelia and been missing since before all the great changes with her and Eric had happened. "I promise to tell you the story, and believe me it's a good one, but right now we need your help." She turned Amelia so that she could see the black rope like thing moving around the enclosure, testing it every so often. "We are safe in here but I don't know how to get rid of that. I don't know what it is."

"Black magic...a retrieval spell." Sookie was about to ask a question but Amelia started chanting. The words flowed like music from her rough lips; a language Sookie couldn't even recognized. Some of the words were easy and beautiful while others were guttural and almost growls. It didn't escape her notice that every so often Amelia pause the chanting to gasp for air as if she were running a marathon. Sweat beads began gathering on her face and neck. She continued until she could speak no more because she had to gasp for breath.

"Are you okay Amelia?" Sookie asked. Honestly for all Amelia's efforts, Sookie couldn't see a difference in the black rope-like things, they still hung in the air testing her enclosure; if anything they seemed to speed up their attempts.

"Yeah, I almost got it." She managed between puffs. "Tell me, does this Sookie 2.0 have any other special features besides this great 360 shield?"

"Like what?"

"How destructible are you?"

"I'm not...not really." She said with a hint of a smile.

"I could banish it, but if you are truly indestructible it could take you to whoever sent this retrieval spell. If you're not truly indestructible there's a high chance of you getting burned alive."

"Yeah I've been there." She rubbed her hand that had burned when she tried to free Amelia. It didn't look burned now but it still ached and was now a more angry red color. "I can take it let's do it."

"Okay but when I say so you're gonna have to remove that killer shield and grab onto the ropes."

Sookie readily agreed. She propped Amelia up against Anthony and stood at the ready. Amelia began to chant again as she looked at the black swirling rope-like things. As she concentrated on them she could see that they were a little less solid then they seemed to be a while ago. She was so focused on studying the magical apparitions that she jumped when Amelia said, "now Sookie."

She meant to drop her enclosure but instead it shrunk like a second skin over her body. The black rope-like things dived straight for Niall and Amelia. Niall was still unconscious but Amelia kept chanting though it sounded nothing like a language and more and more like odd sounds she was making. Sookie grabbed onto the ropes before they could make purchase and it was like she was holding onto heating pads. She could tell that they were trying to burn her but they could cause her no harm with the barrier of her enclosure.

Amelia's chants turned into more grunts and growls and the ropes gave a huge jerk. Sookie managed to regain her footing before hitting the wall. Amelia's chants turned into something completely unintelligible and there was another great lurch from the ropes but this time Sookie was ready. The spell Amelia was speaking was supposed to send Sookie to the originator but Sookie wasn't cooperating. Amelia didn't know it but part of Sookie's consciousness moved along the ropes, tracking its origins.

She was still present in the room but it was like when you get off on a tangent in your mind when you start thinking about something else when you've already started on one line of though. Part of Sookie was going along the ropes through space and time until they came into a house she had never seen before and there standing in front of her minds eye was the older black woman that Sookie would have trusted with her life...Octavia.

It was like someone had called Octavia's name, she was chanting harshly and suddenly looked up to where Sookie's consciousness looked down. Her smile was terrible and it looked odd on the sweet grandmotherly face that Sookie had come to love.

"Look who's got a power boost." Octavia said as she stood straight and squared her shoulders.

"She did this to us!" Amelia said. Her memory was kind of hazy since she woke up but now that she identified the magic being used against her, her memory began to clear. "She tried to kill us."

"Who?" Anthony asked urgently. He'd stayed quiet because he hadn't had anything to add but this was something that he needed to know.

"Octavia." The women breathed together.

"Yes it's me sweet, innocent, and very powerful Sookie. You feel like more than your Great Grandfather my dear. I am going to enjoy eating you before finishing him off."

Anger jolted through Sookie at Octavia's words. The old woman began chanting but Sookie's body automatically sent silver bolts down the ropes, obliterating them as it ran over them. Octavia's chant stuttered and she tried to pull her unstoppable magic away but Sookie was relentless. The bolts entered Octavia's hideout with a sonic boom alerting every guard surrounding the home. She didn't have the chance to block herself from Sookie's bolts but right before they hit her chest a black electric smoky mist appeared in front of Octavia. The silver bolts cut through the black electric smoky mist and hit their mark but the smoky mist closed in on her body in the next moment. Sookie watched as Octavia was covered in darkness but in the next moment was thrust out.

"What happened?" Sookie asked when she was firmly replaced in her own mansion.

"She...lost...consciousness...or died." Amelia stuttered. Sookie was at her side in the next moment calling her name. Amelia's eyes lost focus again and she said something that vaguely sounded like "too much" but Sookie couldn't be sure. In the next moment Niall was rejoined by Amelia in unconsciousness.

Sookie lifted Amelia back into her bed and Anthony did the same for Niall. She pushed her shield away from her skin until it touched every corner of the room. Anthony already had his cell phone out calling Dr. Ludwig. Sookie knew she needed to contact the Claudine and with that thought her mind was thrown out until it came across her Fae guards that were dispersed around the compound. They turned their head as if someone had called them by name and in the next moment they were all running for the house. The little niggle in the back of her head let her know that Noah was running to her too and that he was still in wolf form.

_Eric_. Where was Eric? Just the thought of him broke the wall between their minds and she replayed what had just happened. They took a moment with one another's mind to comfort and reassure each other. Eric was no longer in the compound and neither was Evelyn. She didn't remember him saying goodbye but as she thought on it Eric's memory replayed the sad memory in which Eric tried to include her and she all but dismissed him. She was ashamed but he soothed her. He allowed her to feel his faith in her that she could take care of the home front while he was otherwise occupied.

_I guess the fact that you aren't rushing back here to be with me is a testament to how much faith you have in me,_ she thought at him.

_I can give no higher praise,_ he could hear the guards approaching the stairs and he said his goodbyes as they rebuilt the wall between their minds so that they both could concentrate.

"Anthony, give him one of your vials. I will be right outside the door."

"As you wish," was his only reply as he did what she asked.

She didn't know how to keep the room protected while she stepped out so she just extended the protection outside the room as she closed the door behind her. Noah was the first to reach her and passed without hindrance through her enclosure. One of the Fae guards tried to follow but was knocked back.

"Only those invited may pass through my enclosure," She informed them. They stared at her completely mesmerized before they all fell to their knee with bowed heads. "We've been attacked and I need one of you to take a message back to Faery to Claudine and Claude for me."

The one that bounded into her enclosure nodded his head and stood. "My Lady, I am Lorn and I will do your bidding. I will not fail you."

"Thank you Lorn. Tell them that Octavia is a traitor. Tell them to search the grounds of her hideout immediately. I believe that I've severely hurt and maybe even killed her. She's the one responsible for Niall and Amelia's disappearance. Tell them that everyone here is still safe and accounted for."

Lorn bowed to her again before he ran back down the stairs. Because of Niall's wards he would have to make it out the gate and onto the street before he would be able to POP out of the compound.

She knew that it was more than likely safe but if Octavia could be a traitor then so could others. She gave the rest of the guards orders to go over the compound with a fine tooth comb. She wanted them to search for any magical signatures that didn't belong and to also search out any weak points for a witch's black magic. This would have to do because they were still at high alert so everything that could be done was already being done to protect their compound.

"Yes Milady," they agreed before they dispersed to do her bidding.

She'd been running her hands over his fur as he inspected her for wounds. They turned as one and walked back into the room to find Anthony kneeling over the head of Niall's bed.

"Is he awake?"

"No, but he is close to it." He moved to go to Amelia so that Sookie could be closer to the fairy. "She woke up enough to complain of thirst before passing back out. She's already looking better though. I think that she could be up and around within a couple days if she keeps improving the way she is...though I'm no Dr. Ludwig."

"I can agree with that statement." A small and distinct voice said. They all turned towards the door to find Dr. Ludwig and the nurse she chose for them looking at them. No one heard them enter.

"Did you just POP in here?" Sookie asked.

"Of course I did," Dr. Ludwig replied as if she were a bit slow, "you're not guarding yourself against me."

Sookie opened her mouth to respond but the doctor didn't give her a chance.

"Who's first?"

"Amelia first," Sookie replied after a moment's thought. "She's suffered more damage and she helped me fight off Octavia."

"Octavia the witch?" Dr. Ludwig asked, frozen in mid-step, looking more surprised than Sookie had ever seen her.

"She's the traitor," Sookie told her. "She's the one responsible for Niall and Amelia's injuries. She attacked us here today and with Amelia's help I was able to fight her back. I think I might have killed her."

"Damn," The good doctor said quietly with much feeling.

She proceeded over to Amelia's bed and began checking her over.

"?"

"The witch Octavia is one of the most powerful witches in the US if not _the_ most powerful. She's got a natural talent that most can only dream of with the knowledge of a learned witch. I've never seen magic come so easily to any witch...ever. She's the one of the foremost authorities of all things witchcraft. She's who the experts go to when they've run into dead ends."

"Okay I get it, Octavia is queen badass of the witch variety."

"She is," Dr. Ludwig agreed. "If she's turned evil then we're all in deep shit." She paused and leaned closer to Amelia. She inhaled deeply before opening Amelia's mouth and all but sticking her nose inside to once again inhale deeply.

"Doctor?" Sookie called a bit confusedly.

The doctor stepped away from Amelia's bed with a thoughtful look on her face. "You said that Amelia helped you fight off Octavia?"

"Yes, two black rope like things came through the wall and wrapped around their necks. We tried to grab their bodies but the rope kept pulling and started choking them. I called my enclosure and that broke the ropes grasp but didn't send it away. It was testing my shields for weakness. I gave Amelia a vial of my tears and she came around. She started chanting and told me that she could make it where I could follow the magic to its source. She did, I did and at the other end of the ropes I found Octavia. I struck out at her. I thought I killed her. She was covered in a black mist and I was jerked back to my body. Amelia says that our connection was broken because Octavia was either unconscious or dead."

"If you are sure of what you say and Octavia is behind the damage to these two, especially Amelia, then I think we should keep a close eye on the young witch."

"Are you saying that Octavia may have contaminated her?" Jamal asked. "Is she a potential threat?"

"On the contrary wolf. I think that if she was left in the tender care of someone as powerful as Octavia and she's still alive, and if she was able to assist the Queen here against here-given her present condition- then she may be the answer to the Octavia issue.

"Despite my tears or because of them?" Sookie couldn't help but ask.

"Both I think," the doctor replied. "But remember that she's just now had your tears. She survived all that time on her own. We must keep that in mind. This young witch is a powerhouse on her own. I think your tears will just fortify that."

They all stood in silence for a minute before the doctor brushed Sookie aside so that she could check on Niall. She called out instructions for her nurse to clean Amelia up and treat the wounds from the IV and catheter because "she will wake by morning". The guys started to leave but the nurse waved them off and left the room. A few minutes later she came back and lifted Amelia in her arms before leaving the room again.

"You gave the Prince you tears also?" Dr. Ludwig asked.

Sookie nodded and held her hand out to Jamal. Without a word he placed a vial in her hand and Sookie held it up so that Dr. Ludwig could see how much he was given.

Dr. Ludwig nodded and began to repack her bag. The nurse came back into the room with a damp haired Amelia in her arms and laid her on the recently changed bed. When Dr. Ludwig was done she turned to Sookie.

"Niall is healing quite quickly I must say. Even still, he would be out of commission for another week before he comes around for any amount of time and probably a few more before he's able to defend himself in the same capacity before he was injured. That should put into focus how much damage he has sustained. I would recommend you give him another vial of your tears, just one should do it. That would cut his recovery time in half if not more. I wouldn't give him more than that since we still don't know the long term effect of your tears and we don't want any more people bound to you than is exactly necessary.

"Amelia will most likely sleep deeply until the morning. When she awakes make her drink this vial, this _entire_ vial. It's a restorative and she may or may not feel the intense need to purge anything that's not organic to her. She may be a bit sluggish for half an hour to an hour but she should be perfectly fine after that. Make sure she eats organically and drink a lot of water...and no magic for the first twelve hours after she wakes because it's too stressful to her body. Now if there isn't anything else..."

She didn't give anyone a chance to say anything before she grabbed her nurse's hand and popped them away.

"Well isn't she a breath of fresh air." Jamal finally broke the silence.

"Well she really does like to make an entrance." Sookie replied before turning back to Niall. She tipped the vial into his mouth before lying down beside him and snuggling into his side. "Let me know when Lorn is back."

"Yes Queen," Anthony replied.

"I just want to lay here for a while. This was too close."

"We understand," Jamal said as he got the door. "You stay as long as you need. You need to get more rest. We will oversee the compound for you."

"Thanks guys."

Anthony joined Jamal at the door when he noticed that Noah was not behind them. He lay at the side of the bed where Sookie lay with his head resting on his paws.

"Come on Noah," Anthony said but Noah let go a soft growl and turned his head away. It was clear to everyone that he was going no where.

"Your Majesty?" Jamal asked.

"He can stay," she replied without even looking at them. They left without further ado.

"I will dampen our bond as much as I can Noah," Sookie said as a yawn distorted the last of her sentence. "I want you to have as much freedom as possible. It's the least I can do for you after all you've done for me. I don't want a slave, I want a friend."

Noah gave a soft yip of thanks. How she knew he couldn't understand. He never got the chance to bring it up or even think about it in her presence, but still she knew somehow. It scared him quite a bit but he just couldn't bring himself to wish it were any other way. If he were to be bound to someone, he lucked out with the fact that it was her. He let out a yawn and closed his eyes when he heard her speak so softly he wondered if he was still awake or if he was dreaming.

"I'm the lucky one," Sookie murmured. "I will always protect you...even if it's from me and my influence." She snuggled closer into Niall's still form. She was very proud of herself. She stood on her own today. She no longer felt like a pretend Queen because she knew for a fact that she could handle emergency situations without Eric. Don't misunderstand because she loved working as a team with Eric, but knowing she could handle things on her own too gave her a feeling that was almost indescribable. She was thinking that she could do this. It wasn't the first time that she thought this but it was the first time she actually believed it in her spirit.


End file.
